The public health conference provides a forum in which people from diverse perspectives can work together to achieve a shared goal of addressing Indiana’s most pressing public health issues. The theme for the 2018 conference is harm reduction, a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use. Harm reduction services and policies are effective, humane, equitable, and life-saving strategies that are vital to any comprehensive response to the opioid epidemic.
Time: 9AM - 4PM EST on October 11, 2018
Place: Indianapolis Marriott East
Fee: General Attendance: $50, Student: $25
Gabriel Wishik, MD, MPH, is board certified in general internal medicine and addiction medicine. He is the medical director at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program’s (BHCHP) flagship clinic. He is also the Addiction Medicine Associate Fellowship Director at Boston Medical Center (BMC), where he teaches fellows, residents, and students. Dr. Wishik staffs BMC’s inpatient Addiction Consult Service which offers expertise to inpatient teams caring for patients with substance use disorders. His clinical interests also include the care of individuals experiencing homelessness, transitional care of individuals with criminal justice involvement, and transgender care. Dr. Wishik has developed expertise in bringing harm reduction strategies into clinical medicine and has been intimately involved in BHCHP’s programming to engage with people who actively inject drugs. This includes BHCHP’s Safe Place for Observation and Treatment (SPOT), where people at risk of overdose can present for medical observation and engagement. He is one of three providers staffing a mobile clinic in collaboration with Boston’s local syringe exchange program to target local overdose hotspots for paired medical and harm reduction services. Dr. Wishik is an expert in overdose response planning and bathroom safety and has been instrumental in BHCHP’s response to an increasing number of onsite overdoses. He has also briefed city and state decision makers in advocacy for supervised consumption spaces to address the overdose crisis. Dr. Wishik received his medical degree and M.P.H from Tulane University and was a resident and chief resident at Emory University.
Dr. Tsemberis is a clinical-community psychologist who developed the Housing First model. He serves as President/CEO of the Pathways Housing First Institute and is on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Tsemberis also serves as Executive Director for the VA-UCLA Center of Excellence for Training and Research on Veterans Homelessness in Los Angeles, and Clinical Director for national Housing First for Youth Program, in Canada.
